Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,618 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,047 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Paychex were worth $2,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock traded up $1.81 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $144.83. 2,153,438 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,782,825. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.78. The company has a market cap of $52.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Paychex's payout ratio is 82.53%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.